Wake Up to the Other Side
by FullmetalFreak7
Summary: After Central Headquarters is attacked, Roy is injured and wakes up to on the Other Side of the Gate. But while he's there, he meets a ragged Edward and a missing Alphonse, only to realize that he is the cause of their misfortune. Set after FMA movie!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Chapter One**

"You haven't heard anymore? You're sure you didn't miss anyone?" An official voice echoed in the large office. The sound waves bounced off of the empty teal blue walls only to collide into stacks of books and papers. After the second collision, the waves angled towards the wooden bookshelves where the sound was absorbed by the red grain of the thick wood. However the echo barely lasted and couldn't be heard resonating in the room. The room was large, but it wasn't _that_ large; not to mention that it was cluttered with a dark oak desk with matching chairs, various lengths of parchment with hurried notes, towering bookshelves, soaring book piles, and a sleek and dark phone. This said phone currently resided in the hand of the man in charge of the voice. It mumbled out a clear response to the receiver of the call.

"Positive, General. All of the bodies have been confirmed. Everyone who was thought to be in the building was identified." A deep and powerful voice responded back. Although the voice seemed worried and sad. The General silently thought of how dismal it must be, delivering more bad news on a deadly case with no leads. The whole situation practically spelled 'awful'.

The General let out a long and troubled sigh. "This doesn't look good Armstrong." He paused for a second thinking back at the situation. "This is the third civilian bombing. The people are frightened. We can't calm them; how can we when everyone in the military is just as worried?" He turned in his chair looking outside. The sky was cloudy and bore a sign of rain. In the back of his mind, Roy thought the clouds looked like bruises that someone would find on their arm or leg. Instead it was a hindrance to the pure blue sky that would normally brighten the whole room. The atmosphere outside seemed to agree with the tone of the conversation.

"I know, sir. And we can't afford to have another military library attacked either. Schezca hasn't been to all of the libraries." Armstrong agreed. The General remembered the attack Armstrong was talking about. It had been one of the two attacks on the military side of things; totaling the number of attacks to five. "General Mustang, the only thing that is the same with all of these attacks is the alchemy involved. All the witnesses say the same thing: colored lights went off before the destruction. The damage surrounding the buildings only supports this fact. But each site has been destroyed in different ways from the others. Not one array has been used twice. The only constant is the alchemy involved!"

"But there's no connection between the attacks. They are all random…" Roy Mustang mused. He spun in his chair and quickly placed his elbow on the table scattering loose pieces of paper to the blue carpet below. He leaned into his hand as he continued his talk with Armstrong. His good eye was zoning in on a large and dark knot on the wood's otherwise perfect surface. He sighed again. "Has the investigation committee found _anything_ yet?" His eye left the wood and lingered on a picture. It showed him with his military uniform on, looking glum and serious. Beside him stood a taller man with a much happier face upon him. The man's glasses gleamed with delight in the picture. The lamp that stood illuminating on his desk, cast a glare on his side of the picture, but also seemed to cast a friendly glow over the cheerful man. Roy's heart sank slightly when he thought of his best friend.

"Nothing significant. They're still trying to see if there will be anything new to report from the new attack site."

"And there is no clue as to what the next target is? Anything to indicate whether it'll be a military or civilian target?" Roy asked, his mind desperately begging for an answer. He had already increased the security of all the cities, but he couldn't get them all. At the rate the attacker was going, a backwater country town like Resembool could be attacked. He had no way of knowing what town would be next or what building. And being the General of the whole situation didn't help either. Although the people would only partly blame him in the event of another attack; the new Parliament that has also been set up took the other chunk of blame. They had their say in how the country was going to be defended from terrorists.

"None, sir," Armstrong paused, "At least we haven't found any yet." He sounded hopeful, trying to convince himself of the same thing. 'Armstrong was always the optimist,' Roy thought to himself. However, he was a little bit more on the pessimistic side. He didn't respond to Armstrong's hope.

"Is this line safe, sir?" Armstrong suddenly asked in a low and quiet whisper. Roy was taken aback by the question.

"As far as I know," Roy said, suddenly doubtful of the line's security. He listened intently for any signs of the line being tapped, a frown forming on his face.

"Then," Armstrong paused for a moment, checking to make sure that it was safe. "How is you're research going?" Outside, the thunder laughed merrily causing the room to give off the feel of being vibrated.

"Not so well…" Roy sighed. "Being the General I'm obliged to put more of my time into the terrorism case, than my own." Now that Roy was at the top of the line, he wasn't so sure he liked it all that much. Sure he was in charge of the military, earned a great salary, and had all the information in the world at his finger tips. However, the whole world seemed to have problems, and being the General it was his job to answer a good majority of them. It was Equivalent Exchange. In exchange for becoming a powerful and influencing figure, you lose a lot of time for yourself and your own endeavors.

"I understand. A lot of us here are trying to close this case as much as we can in order to help you. We all want him back as soon as possible." Armstrong replied confidently. Roy knew that the 'we' he was talking about was most of the military, but more specifically it was his closet circle of friends.

"I appreciate it. But we can't risk messing up this case in order to get back to what we want to do. Edward chose to go through the Gate. We can't put aside what we're doing in order to bring him back. He might not even want to come back for all we know." Roy trailed off as he thought about his younger subordinate. Since the attack of Eckhard and her minions, Roy hadn't seen Edward Elric, or heard from him. But that's to be expected when you live in another foreign world that can only be accessed by powerful and dangerous alchemy. But that was exactly what his research was about. He wanted to find a way to reopen the Gate and bring Edward back, whether he liked it or not.

Everyone was still in the dark about Edward's disappearance after his brother's resurrection, so to speak. And they were even more clueless about his sudden reappearance, along with strange demons and flying ships, and then his exit with his brother. That was two years ago, and nothing new had been found. No one knew where he was or what he was going back to. But everyone knows that Edward doesn't belong in that world. And they planned on bringing him back.

But getting him back wasn't going to be the hard part. It was reopening the Gate. The only ways that Roy had ever heard of the Gate being open was during Human Transmutation, or in the case two 

years ago, when someone from another world wanted to enter the other. In both cases, however, powerful and dangerous alchemy was involved. Roy needed to find a way to decrease the risk involved. And the only thing that got rid of the risk completely would be the Philosopher's Stone.

"Permission to ask a personal question, sir?" Armstrong's voice drew him out of his depressing thoughts. Having called him with military business in mind, Armstrong wanted to be respectful to the higher chain in command. Outside the clouds broke slightly, letting in a small ray of sunshine to fall upon Roy's desk and face. He looked up at the sky, thinking to himself that he was glad the bruise covering the sky wasn't going to last forever.

"Of course, Armstrong," Roy replied. Off duty, Roy and his friends were very casual about their ranks, however; at any given moment Roy could break out some ridiculous command that they would have to do it. It had been known to happen. But while they were on duty, military conduct was expected.

"How is Riza doing?" Armstrong's voice didn't sound official any more, but friendly and curious. The change of tone had a massive effect on the mood of the conversation. From once being dull, depressing, and otherwise didn't bring any good news, the conversation turned into one of the future and one of hope and joy.

"She's fine. She visited the doctor three days ago and she said that everything was fine. They still say that she's due in two weeks," Roy replied leaning back into his leather chair. The sunshine expanded and filled up his whole face, clearly showing the smile that rested on his lips. Today there was only one person in the room and that was General Roy Mustang. However, on a normal, daily basis, Riza Hawkeye occupied the room with him. Just as with his friends, Roy's relationship with Riza while on duty was strictly military. Riza made sure it stayed that way. But as soon as the day was over, the relationship between them changed drastically. Whereas with Havoc or Falman, Roy and his friends would joke and pick on each other, Riza and Roy's relationship was different. Havoc, Falman, and Fury didn't feel jealous at all about the treatment Roy gave Riza. They had no desire to be carrying his unborn child!

Not long after Edwards second disappearance and Roy was promoted to the new General, Roy realized that he wouldn't want to spend the rest of his days with a woman other than Riza Hawkeye. Well, Riza Mustang now. They didn't need years of dating to realize that they both loved each other unconditionally, and married each other a year ago. And now, Riza was about to give birth to their first child.

"That's good to hear. I hope to be back in Central in two weeks. I hope I can be there with you when your child is born. Maybe I can take some pictures…" Armstrong chuckled, obviously remembering his old friend Maes Hughes. Roy laughed with Armstrong recalling how Hughes used to bombard them with picture everyday. He was sad to think that Hughes wasn't going to be around to see his child's birth.

"I hope to see you there. I'm going to need as much help as I can get!" Roy replied; he was still very nervous about being the 'Father Figure'.

"I wouldn't worry about a thing!" Armstrong comforted his friend. He was well aware of Roy's impending fear of being a bad father. "If you can live through Edward growing up, I'm sure you can handle a child with ease." Roy laughed in agreement, mentally thinking of how stubborn Edward was when he first joined the military. The thunder laughed and rolled in agreement as well.

"That's all too true," Roy said and he realized that he was sad that Edward was going to miss the birth of his child as well. He frowned slightly, now worried that he would get wet on his way home.

In the phone, Armstrong sigh resonated. "Well, sir, I have nothing more to report." He started to end the conversation. They both needed to get back to work and finish what was left of their duties for the day. The clouds started to invade upon the only light coming from the sky, daring any other holes to pop up.

"Alright, Armstrong. Hope to see you soon," Roy said. He placed the phone back into its silver cradle and leaned back against his chair. He stretched and yawned. Looking at the clock he saw that it was past time to go home. He frowned. He wanted to go to his house and see his wife, but he still had papers deliver. Luckily he could convey them on his way home. He got up from his chair and collected the appropriate papers. He picked up his black jacket from the wooden coat rank in the corner and turned towards the door. Before closing the door, he looked out into the injured sky once more. The thunder rumbled, encouraging him to go outside so he could finally make it rain.

Roy walked down the flights of steps, thinking about the information Armstrong gave him. He continued to ponder as he walked into the main entrance hall, but stopped when he heard his name.

"I'm sorry, sir. General Mustang has been very busy." The receptionist at the front desk said to a blonde man in front of her desk. In his hand he held a folded piece of paper.

"When will I be able to see him? He's the only one who can really evaluate this," The man politely asked, showing the receptionist a white piece of paper. The man wore formal clothes, obviously trying to look nice when, or if, he saw the General. He seemed rather anxious to meet the head of the army.

"I'm General Mustang. Can I help you with something?" Roy came up to the desk, and introduced himself the man. The blonde man looked up in surprise, but showed a wide smile when seeing Roy. He stood out with his bright blonde hair and pale skin, and not to mention his white teeth, when contrasted with the dark and dreary sky. The thunder rolled angrily.

"Yes please!" the man said enthusiastically. "I was wondering if you could look at this transmutation circle. You being the General and a State Alchemist, I thought that you would have the best expertise." The man finished with another smile and unfolded the paper he had in his hand.

Roy took the paper and took a quick glance at it. "Wow," he said in surprise as he saw the complicated design. Symbols were everywhere in the circle along with lines that corresponded to each one, creating a complex and intricate design. Roy glanced up at the man, expecting to see him smiling at him, but instead he saw the man looking to the left, his smile had turned into a smirk. Roy quickly looked back down, before the man saw him, but discretely put his hand into his pocket and put his glove on.

"That's quite an array. But I would need days to study it and tell you what I think. But I'm afraid that's time I don't have right now," Roy said, wishing he could discretely look over to where the man was smirking, but was unable to due to his eye patch. He handed back the paper.

"Oh I see…" The man frowned slightly. "Well, actually if you're not in a hurry," he looked up at Roy hopefully giving him another full face smile, "I can show you how it works right now." Roy didn't respond to the comment. His eyes narrowed as he noticed how the smile was forced and didn't meet the man's cold, blue eyes. He quickly glanced over to his left again. Feeling that something was up, Roy 

immediate turned his head to look as well. The first flash of lightening lit up the area, blinding the people inside slightly.

To his left, a man with brown hair quickly reached behind his back and pulled out a sleek, black pistol. As he was bringing it up he fired the gun, silencing the room with a deafening roar. The receptionist beside Roy collapsed against the desk. Roy heard the bullet collide with her skull.

On instinct, Roy pulled out his hand and snapped his fingers causing a stream of fire to collide with the man. He had no desire to kill him, but as soon as the fire touched him, the staccato popping of gunshots echoed through the halls. Apparently, the man had pounds upon pounds of ammo on his body, and the gun powder reacted with the fire. Without taking a second glance, Roy knew the gunman was dead.

Having already jumped back after snapping his fingers, Roy looked back towards the smiling man. A pistol rested in his hand while his other one still grasped the paper. Smoke came out of the barrel from a gunshot that got mixed in with the explosion and the thunder that roared in anger of the battle. He missed Roy the first time, but his eyes were on the General again, hoping to get another shot.

From the front door more people with gun came rushing in, firing random shots into the room. Some of the other military personnel fell down injured or dead, before they could pull out their own firearm. In the back hallways, Roy could hear other military men scramble to pick up their weapons and see where the battle was. The problem was, most of the men had already gone home, Roy guessed that there wouldn't be much for a battle. And what made matters worse, he was probably the only State Alchemist in the building.

Roy stood his ground and released another explosion of fire; one towards the men at the door another at the smiling man in front of him. He heard another staccato of gunfire and knew he hit one of the men at the entrance, but he knew the Smiling Man dodged his blast.

Around them, smoke filled the air. From Roy's attack, chairs, desks, and sofas that once occupied the room now started to smolder and burn. The heat in the room started to rise, making the atmosphere uncomfortable as the humidity started to invade the room from broken window panes and a gaping hole in the wall from Roy's conflagration. The otherwise large and spacious room now seemed small and cramped with the smoke compiling on top of everything.

"Get out of the building!" Roy yelled over his shoulder, hidden by the smoke from reception desk. He repeated himself, yelling louder as he turned around looking for the Smiling Man. He already knew what the transmutation circle he held did. It didn't take him long to come to the conclusion that the people attacking the building was the terrorist group, and this building, and everyone in it, was the next target.

He snapped up two additional firestorms. More explosions could be heard echoing down the hallway along with shouts and screams. Behind him more gunfire echoed, several stray bullets whizzed past. Roy cursed aloud, realizing that the group had men down the back exits and his men and their men were having a stand off.

"Gah!" Roy yelled as he slumped to the floor, his leg collapsing from under him. He quickly looked down and saw blood seeping out of a small round hole. It wasn't until a second later that he heard the gunshot. He looked up and snapped his hands again, not sure where to direct the blasts. He cursed aloud to himself again, this time because he couldn't see out of his left eye and had to repeatedly turn his head to look in that direction.

And it was in that direction that the Smiling Man came from. More smoke came from his gun barrel. Roy immediately raised his arm to snap his fingers but another pain rippled through his shoulder. He felt more blood seep into his blue uniform and trickle down his arm. He looked up with vengeance in his eye and saw the Smiling Man frown down at him. He pulled the trigger again.

"Grah!" Roy grunted as this bullet took his other shoulder. The Smiling Man looked down and saw that Roy's fingers were still in motion, getting ready to snap once again. With a quick movement he stepped on the hand, pushing all his weight onto his iron toe boots. Small cracks could be heard as Roy's hand broke under the pressure. Roy cursed in pain, and cursed again because he couldn't move his arm to go into his other pocket and slip on his other glove. Outside the thunder ravaged and another dash of lightening lit up the otherwise violet and black sky. Through the thunderous noises, Roy could hear the rain slamming down against the building. Almost as if the sky was trying to fight back for him, but unable to reach its target.

"Now, now, none of that. Here I am trying to be nice and show you what this array does," The man was smiling again. Lightening crackled through the sky lighting up the man's face, giving him a crazed look in his eyes. He leaned forward as he said this, placing a hand on Roy's shoulder and squeezing tightly boring his fingers into Roy's skin, expanding the already open wound. Roy barred his teeth in pain and tried to keep his moan from slipping out. Already blackness started to crowd his vision, unconsciousness trying to slip in, shutting Roy off from the outside world. Unwillingly letting his eyes slip downward, Roy saw his blood pooling out from him. He struggled to look up when he heard the Smiling Man laugh. His mind raced, trying to think of someway to attack the man, but his mind refused to cooperate through the pain and blackness.

Roy breathed heavily as he watched the man kneel in front of him, placing the transmutation circle at his feet. The blood from Roy's wounds started to seep into the paper. Through his haze, Roy came upon a realization. Outside the thunder rumbled in agreement.

"No, wait. You'll be destroyed too!" Roy hoped against hope that the Smiling Man would stop his actions if he knew he would be destroyed as well. However, he said it too late. The man had already clapped his hands and placed them on the stained piece of paper. He looked up at Roy, smiling.

A piercing yellow light blinded Roy for a moment, but it dimmed allowing him to still see the smiling man. He felt useless, unable to do anything to stop the reaction. He looked down at the circle and saw that more of his blood had leaked onto the paper. The red liquid continued to move towards the black etching, and when it finally touched the edged of the circle, everything changed. The blood started to glow, and it stopped its movement. Slowly the glow swiftly climbed across the pool of blood where Roy was lying, and when it was done encasing that, it started its way up his body.

His eye grew wide as he felt the reaction going through him. He looked up from the reaction towards the Smiling Man. The man wasn't smiling anymore, but looked horrified. He held up his hand in front of his face and Roy saw that the same thing was happening to him. His hand had been covered in blood from where he squeezed Roy's shoulder and now his hand was glowing from where the blood stained it. They both sat entranced by what was happening to both of them.

It happened to the Smiling Man first.

He screamed out, his other hand clutching his arm in a death grip. He rolled backwards, away from the blood, and writhed in pain. From where he sat, Roy saw the man's hand start to deteriorate from his body.

Then Roy felt the pain. The pain wasn't just at his hands; instead it coursed through his whole body. He gasped and tried to hold back the screams as he watched the yellow light start to disappear and then saw his body evaporate as well. He couldn't hold in his screams any longer.

-WUttOS-

Outside the building, a large crowd gathered. People jumped and screamed when they heard the staccato explosions. They were crying and screaming wanting to get through to their family that still remained inside, but the police force was keeping people back. In the crowd shouts could be heard yelling at the police asking why they didn't go in there to help. The police's answered that it was the terrorist and they couldn't risk losing a whole squadron with an alchemic reaction going on.

At the edge of the group, stood Riza Hawkeye (now Mustang); beside her stood Gracia Hughes. They both stood horrified, but Riza quivered with fear. She knew what was going on, she heard the familiar sounds of gunshot explosions and the screams of dying and injured men. Having lived through battles she was attuned to all the noise and heard all of them, no matter how small. And everyone in there she knew and worked with, some of them were good friends of hers. But what made her tremble in fear even more was that she knew her husband was in there as well. She couldn't hear his fingers snap, but she heard the familiar explosions as the fire hit its target. And what made it worse; she couldn't go in there to help.

The rain started to tumble down. Even with the on going battle, the people could hear it as it pounded against them. They saw it come down in layers before it hit them, but they stayed rooted in place, watching in terror as the rain tried to help with the battle as well.

A bright yellow light flashed and lit up the area. The light receded from where they were standing, but it remained in the building. Riza recognized it as light from a transmutation. A scream echoed to the outside. It was loud and painful. People in the crowd shifted with discomfort, it had been the loudest scream yet. Not long afterwards another scream sounded, this time much louder than the first one, and much more painful.

The light grew brighter and the scream ended abruptly. Riza gasped and stared she started to lose feeling in her legs. Immediately she reached out and grabbed a hold of Gracia's arm before she fell. She felt the blood drain from her face and she barely registered that Gracia was looking at her in worry and asking her what was wrong. But Riza was unable to answer. The thunder moaned and shouted with a great ferocity.

She knew that it was Roy screaming in pain.

She knew that Roy was now gone from this world.

_**Author's Note:**_ Whew, got that chapter done. Seven pages! That's pretty good for me! I hope the chapter was good, and that the cliffhanger was good enough. Don't worry, it's not the end. And sorry for the Roy torture/him losing. But I needed it to happen. I hope to get the next chapter up soon, but you never know with me. Oh yeah, its been awhile since I've last seen Fullmetal Alchemist, so please tell me if the characters are out of character or if I have any info wrong! Please tell me what you think, and give me as much criticism as you want! Cause I need it! And if anyone has any ideas for a good title name, I'm open to suggestions!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.**

**Chapter Two**

Roy kept his eye shut, grimacing at the pain in his head that throbbed with every ka-thump of his heart. His body stayed curled in the fetal position. The wet blood on his clothes pushed up against him, staining the blue fabric of his torso. But oddly enough, the blood didn't feel wet on his skin. He imagined that he was just too numb from the pain to feel it.

He tried to calm his breathing. With every breath he took he could hear the ragged gasp and feel a slight ache in the back of his throat. But he kept taking his deep and painful breaths; the air tasted too good to stop. After what felt like an eternity of experiencing pain, feeling a vigorous pressure pin against you, keeping you from breathing , from moving, feeling like all the bones in your body will shatter, all the while blind to what it was; Roy was happy to have only the headache and the sore throat.

He slowed his breathing and felt his heart slowly reduce speed. The ache in his head stopped pounding with it and faded into a slight migraine. In his hand he felt the open wound of the bullet hole and the wet blood on his uniform. This was all his hand felt. Not even the texture of the surface he was lying on. In fact, he didn't feel anything below him.

"_Maybe this is what its like to die…"_ Roy thought to himself. He felt weak and his heart had slowed. Blood didn't seep through his fingers and he clutched his shoulder. In fact, he didn't feel any pain in his broken hand that had wound tightly against his wounded shoulder. He reminded curled in his position, on top of unknown surface. His eyes stayed shut as the pain started to recede.

While he was still alive, he took a moment to listen. Afraid that he still might be in danger, he listened for the Smiling Man; listened to see if he was still going through the same pain he just went through. Not anything remotely similar to the sound of pain reached Roy's ears. However, he didn't open his eyes to check, he was dying anyways, might as well get used to the darkness. There was no sound of a gun coking or hands clapping together for a transmutation. Nothing too painful to worry about. But he did hear something. He couldn't quite place what it was, but he knew he had heard it before. Behind that sound he heard muffled shouts, but couldn't make out what they said, he didn't care much right now anyways.

He knew the Smiling man didn't come here with him. Now that he thought about it, Roy didn't think that the terrorist even had a full body transmutation. But his hand stood out in Roy's mind. _"It deteriorated away, because it had blood on it. My blood…"_ His thoughts faded again as he thought about it, piecing the parts together. _"I had blood everywhere. Is it possible that it went into my wounds and then used the blood that was in me?" _He decided that it was possible, but his mind got distracted as he thought about someone else who had something in her body.

Riza and their unborn child.

His heart raced faster, causing more pounding in his head, as he thought about his wife and soon-to-be born child. Fear and anger took over his emotions. Fear that his wife would have to take care of the infant by herself, without help and support from her husband as he lay dying. And anger because he couldn't be there to help her and support her and see their baby. He knew that she could take care of the kid without any problems, but at what cost? For six months she would be out of work, without any income, and only have the money that they saved. The military would probably give some sort of compensation, but being the General of the military, he knew it wouldn't be much. He didn't know 

much about babies, but he knew that they would have an affect on Riza, whether she would admit it or not.

His heart rate started to slow down as those emotions combined and turned into determination. He couldn't die now! He wanted to see his wife, to see his child grow up, and he wanted to keep them both from suffering any pain. And that meant he couldn't die yet!

Not yet; he still had things to do.

He took another deep breath to steady himself, and listened for the muffled shouts that he heard earlier. Maybe they could help him. But as he listened harder, the sound he didn't recognize only grew louder. Roy listened as it repeated itself over and over. He knew he had heard it before, but he couldn't recall. He opened his mind to every possible thing it could be. Slowly, he came to realize what it was.

It was breathing.

Roy sat there, confused. He held his breath, listening. The sound still continued. Exhaling, Roy tried to match the pace as he slowly uncurled from his position, but still kept his eyes shut. He slowed down his breathing to its typical pace, but remained confused with the breathing he was hearing. He knew the sound well, because it sounded like _him_.

Slowly he opened his eye as he supported himself on all fours. He kept his head down so he could look at whatever it was that he rested on. He opened it, and saw nothing but blackness below him. His heart pounded again, as he thought for sure that he should be falling into this nothingness. But then his eye focused on his white hands, one smooth and whole, the other one broken and twisted at odd angles. Even though one had been broken they supported him without any trouble. He was sturdy. He wasn't falling. Roy released a sigh of relief.

But he still wasn't running.

He knew the breathing he heard was him. He made the same noise when he was exhaled. It wasn't a loud noise, or one very noticeable. But Roy recognized it as his own. He paused to think on how he could be running, but also bent over a large chasm of darkness.

"To your right, Colonel Mustang! I saw him go that way!"

Roy jumped at the sudden sound of a voice. It sounded close enough to touch. He didn't look up to see who was near him; he knew that there was no one else in this blackness. Just like how his breathing wasn't his own. But what caused him the most confusion, was that whoever it was, had called him by name. More importantly, called him by name with a title that didn't belong to him anymore.

"I'm on it!"

Roy froze in place when he heard this voice. The breathing that echoed in Roy's ear sped up, but also became background noise. All of Roy's focus was on that voice. He knew it all to well, because it was _his_ voice.

Roy pushed himself off of his hands and stood up with ease. Even though he had been shot three times, broke his hand, and lost more than half of his blood supply; Roy stood up without any trouble. There were no staggered footsteps or uncertain wobbling. The only pain that bothered him, was the headache. But that pain was slowly residing into the nothingness on which Roy stood.

But right now, Roy wasn't concerned as to why he didn't collapse under what should be weak and unstable joints, or grunt in pain when he moved his broken hand or shoulder. What mattered was why was he speaking, when he wasn't.

He looked around in front of him. He didn't see anything except that ongoing darkness. He turned his head to the left, only to be greeted by more nothingness. Looking up and down only showed the same blackness. It was everywhere.

Roy started to turn to his right, checking to see how much darkness was behind him. However, as he turned, he didn't see darkness. Instead it was a much stranger sight. In front of him stood two gaping holes that were separated by a thin line of blackness. The wholes stood out from the blackness. They were bright and showed passing scenery. The light that was obviously outside these wholes, or inside-Roy didn't know which, didn't stream into the darkness where Roy stood. Or maybe it did, and just showed the empty darkness.

Roy stood transfixed, looking at the floating pools of scenery. Large and stable trees passed by, rattling as they passed out of view. More trees took their place however, some of these were larger, some smaller and some had fallen across the paths of other trees, knocking them down with it. The shrubbery that grew along side the great giants of the woods was overgrown and took over any space available. Wildflowers grew beside the trees and shrubs, politely taking up as little space as possible by growing in great clumps. Poison oak scrambled up the tree trunks, climbing higher and higher with each passing day. Thunder shook the air and caused a rumbling echo to hit Roy as he stood staring at the holes. Powerful gusts of wind shook the nearby greenery and howled into the distance.

Staring at the gaps in the darkness, Roy tried to figure out what they were. The pictures inside the holes moved from left to right and always forward. It was as if whoever was watching this was suppose to be looking for something. But Roy didn't have a clue what to look for, or why these gaps were there. He didn't recognize anything from forest that was being shown. His mind held nothing that could help him with what this anomaly was; just like the nothingness beside him.

In the background, the voices and shouts became muffled again. The only prominent sound was the breathing and the crackling of the sticks and leaves that crunched under the rhythmic footsteps. An idea came to Roy. _"Am I watching, me or someone like me, run?" _Roy was pretty sure that it wasn't him. But it sounded like him. Maybe he really was dying and this was how you saw your life before your eyes. However, Roy was positive that he has never seen this forest before.

Roy took a sharp intake of breath. He quickly stepped forward and looked into the pools of scenery more closely than before. His one eye scanned over the picture, squinting slightly looking for detail. The tree sudden swerved in the opposite direction of where Roy wanted to look.

"No! Look the other way!" Roy shouted aloud and stepped forward again. Suddenly, the pictures he saw in the holes were now what he saw in his own eyes. Now there was no black line separating the two. Roy gasped again. He saw the pictures from _both_ eyes. His eye patch didn't block the view from his left pupil. He could see from both eyes once more!

Roy barely relished in the fact that he could see once more. For all he knew, it was just a trick from the mysterious pools. But what he really wanted to do, was to look to his right again. He looked to the right, and surprisingly, the view matched the speed in which he turned his own head, and saw exactly where he wanted to look. However, at the same time, a voice rang out in his own head.

"_What's going on?"_

Roy jumped in surprise, and took a step back and looked around. He found himself back inside the hall of darkness with the large round orbs back into place, separated by a black line. Once more, Roy could only see out of one eye again.

His heart started to race. He recognized the voice that spoke in his head, as his own. But he didn't speak it. And he didn't think it. And so, who did? Was there more than one of him? If so, how did he hear his thoughts if they belong to another one of himself? Before Roy could go on and confuse himself even more, something in the pools caught his eye. It was what he saw earlier, and apparently it was what whoever was controlling these gaps wanted to see too.

Only a glimpse of it was seen again. But it was enough to make Roy want to focus on it entirely. He took another step back from the pools. A sudden realization overtook him, causing his mind to revamp his thought process. His sudden thought explained what was in front of him, and what he had just did in order to see everything with two eyes. The thought unnerved him, and didn't make sense, and was scientifically impossible. But it was the only thing he could think of that could explain this.

He was _inside_ someone else conscious. This someone, however, was in fact him, but different. The two orbs that floated in front of him were the eyes, allowing him to see, what the other person is seeing. Stepping forward into those sockets allow him to take control.

Another movement from the eyes stole his attention. He didn't have time to be thinking about such improvable and impossible notions about being inside someone else. And so for the moment, he chose to ignore it. He wanted to focus on what was being seen from the outside.

"You're mine, you little runt!" Roy winced as he heard the viciousness in his voice that echoed into his ears in the blackness. However, the choice of words that was used only helped confirm what Roy thought he saw in the holes. Outside, a flash of lightening lit the area in a foreboding light. A grunt of thunder came soon after, warning of the storm brewing.

In the scenery, the trees started to thin out. Ahead of him an oblong clearing appeared. Only grass grew in the area. It was short and matted down. The wild animals in the area apparently munch on it frequently to keep it this short. The sky could be seen in the absence of the trees. It showed dark grey and blue masses that moved slowly across the vast sky, even though the wind below pushed with a great force. Another dash of lightening skipped across the sky. At the edge of this clearing the movement stopped.

The pictures in the pools moved slowly, looking over the edges of the area. The breathing slowed down, making the blackness where Roy stood seem even emptier. The dark and foreboding sky reinforced it.

"Come out; come out, wherever you are!" Roy's voice echoed sadistically as the orbs continued to search around the edges, slowly they moved forward. "Your brother didn't run! He didn't even hide!"

Roy's eyes narrowed on hearing this outburst. The malice in his voice that wasn't even his own, didn't please him, but it was how he said that caused him to worry. The scene outside was slowly moving to the left. Out of the corner of the orb, something long and brown came into view. An arm came up and blocked the view of the thrown object, and replaced it with black cloth. On the cloth, there was a patch. It was outlined in white, but the inside was black like the jacket, sky, and the darkness that surrounded Roy. Centered in the black patch, there was a large skull and two large bones crossing behind it. It 

wasn't like the pirate symbols that Roy remembered seeing in the storybooks when he was a kid. Instead these seemed to have more meaning, it held more fear.

The arm shook slightly as it took the hit of whatever was being thrown. The black arm came down in a rush, and the head snapped to whoever threw the object. Roy stood frozen in shock at what he saw; his ears only confirmed this as he listened to the outburst.

"SHUT UP! You didn't know anything about my brother!" Malice dripped off of every word, revulsion thick with every annunciation. The words fell on the deaf ears of the body outside, but they resonated in the darkness where Roy stood.

Roy continued to stare out of the eyes that weren't his own. In front of him, stood a boy he once knew; a boy that was now a man. Roy recognized the man whose face once held many expressions: pain, fear, determination, happiness, depression, outrage, sarcasm, thoughtfulness. But never before had he seen this face with the expression that now seemed a permanent feature.

Hatred. Pure hatred.

Without realizing it, Roy took a few steps closer to view the man. Almost everything was different about him, but yet at the same time, also the same. The same small cowlick stuck up from the middle of his head. However the golden hair that usually accompanied it was shorter, as if it was all cut off and was now starting to grow itself back into its usually length. The hair wasn't its normal color either. Instead of the bright and gentle yellow hair, it was now a stiff and darker, mirroring the posture of the man that held it. He looked taller, but he looked thin as well. The once defined muscles in his arm and leg looked stringy, like he didn't get enough protein to help supplement his body. A tattoo ran across his arm showing a set of random numbers. He wore thin and stained clothing. His pants were ripped and torn showing the bruises and cuts that came with it. The once white shirt, now almost shreds, barely clung to his body. The clothes didn't even try to hide the rusty steel that protruded from his arm and leg.

As if the metal limbs weren't enough, Roy looked into the man's golden eyes, his raging golden eyes, and knew that this was once the boy he knew not to long ago.

"Sticks and stones may break my bones," Roy's voiced mocked as he stifled his laughter. He motioned towards the long brown stick that hit his arm. "But they don't kill me" Roy's voice laughed aloud.

The Roy in the blackness watched in terror as he saw the hatred break the golden eyed man. He barred his teeth at him and rushed towards him with a hefty white stone in his metal hand. Both Roys acted accordingly.

The body outside, reached towards his belt, grasping on something hard and metal. Lightening lit up the sky, as he quickly brought it up showing a metal revolver. The Roy on the inside stepped forward towards the orbs.

"Edward, don't!" Roy shouted he immediately started to lower his gun; thunder drummed again ringing its symphony against the dark sky. Over the thunder, his ears heard the drastic change of tone. Instead of the sneering voice that once occupied this body, Roy now spoke with the authority that he once used on his subordinate. But it also held a kindness to it. Both of them noticed.

Edward stuttered in his stride, shocked by the sudden change in tone and authority. But it didn't last but a second. His golden eyes narrowed and he continued forward at full speed.

"Stop it, Fullmetal!" This time Ed really did stop. His eyes grew wide with shock and confusion, but the hatred still remained. A more prominent emotion came upon him, wariness. However this one only lasted a second as well.

A gunshot interrupted this time. Edward's eyes grew wide; he even jumped with fright. However he only turned around to look at the source.

Roy, on the other hand, didn't have to turn to look. All he had to do was look over Edward's shoulder and see a tall and masked man pointing a gun at him, smoked rolled from the barrel of the revolver. The familiar feel of blood dripped down his arm, the pain in his shoulder, soon followed. Small drips of rain could be heard splashing against the leaves and foliage.

The bullet pushed him against a nearby tree, where he sank against it grasping his right shoulder, covering the wound. _"Not again…" _ Roy thought, as he idly wondered how this one bullet seemed to hurt more than the three that had pierced him earlier that day. Blackness stared to invade his vision as he heard the person in the shadows tell Edward that he can help him get out. Edward turned and ran towards the edge of the clearing. He turned and took one last look at Roy, before he disappeared into the shadow of the trees. Wet streaks were outlined on Edward's face under his eyes, showing how much dirt and grime really covered his face. Roy wasn't sure if it was tears or the rain that started to fall in painful sheets. Roy wondered on it slightly as he fell unconscious from the pain.

_**Author's Note:**_ Another chapter done! Not quite as long as the last one, but…oh well. Please tell me what you think! I hope it's not too confusing. More will be explained in the upcoming chapters! Again please tell me if any of the characters are out of character!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist**

**Chapter 3**

Pacing back and forth, Roy checked to see if the black wall would reopen and show the outside world. Currently, the outside Roy lay unconscious, the inside Roy didn't know where. He hoped someone had found the body; he didn't want to end up in the dead body of his other.

Roy tried not to think about if he would still be alive if his outside host died. Instead, he thought about the events that had just passed. These thoughts confused him and left him frustrated. The empty conscious Roy now lived him told him nothing, leaving, literally, in the dark.

He sighed irritably. He needs his Other to awaken. He needed to know the answers! And the other Roy needed to wake up for that to happen.

Idly, Roy thought about the difference between him and his other. He touched the left side of his face, right underneath his eye. The smooth cloth of his eye patch greeted his fingers . The Roy on the outside still had both eyes fully functioning. He was sure that they both sound the same. At the moment, it seems that the outside Roy's demeanor seemed to be more callous and cruel. But Roy couldn't say for sure if that was really what his Other's personality was really like.

Which is why Roy needed the Other to awaken!

He needed to know _why_ he was chasing Edward. He needed to know _why_ he mocked his friend. He needed to know _why_ Edward had so much hate in him. He needed to know everything.

And here he was, stuck in the head of his look alike. He didn't even know if he was really here, in a head. How that was physically possible? Or scientifically for that matter.

Sitting down he continued his thought process. A smooth gooey spot greeted his hand. Looking down, Roy noticed his still open gunshot wound and his cracked hand. Flecking his fingers, he didn't feel anything, and his leg didn't even throb after all of his pacing. How he wasn't dead yet surprised Roy, but he didn't let it bother him. As long as he was alive, he didn't care.

His mind drifted back to his world. A mental image of Riza still pregnant entered his head. He smiled slightly at the image, but also wondered how long it had been since he had seen her. The morning of the attack, Roy kissed his wife goodbye and went to work. But from the attack to ending up in this Roy's head, how long had it been? Roy had no way of knowing.

What if it had been weeks? He would've missed his child's brith. And if he did, how did the procedure go? Could there have been any complications? What gender is his child? What would Riza name it? Who would it look more like? But if it hadn't been born yet, then when will it?

He paused in his thought process and laughed. A mental image of Maes Hughes then came to his mind. He remembered how Hughes was always talking about his wife and child. Always gloating and boasting; and always worrying as well. Roy now understood why Hughes was like that. He realized he was doing the same thing.

Roy thought about his other friends. What are they doing? Did they catch the terrorists that were in charge of the attacks? Could they? Roy knew that the Smiling Man went through a similar process that he did. Did he get placed in another's body as well? And who took over his place as General? Riza was his second in command; she should be the next General. But she was on maternity leave. Would the new Parliament really leave her in command with a child on the way? He doubted that they would.

Roy frowned. Thousands of thoughts flooded in and out of his head, all of them without answers.

Slowly, his thoughts settled down. He gave up trying to think about things he had no way of knowing. He looked back up towards the ebony space and hoped to see the outside world. Sadly, the dark abyss silently watched him. Turning back around, he thought about the possibilities of someone being in his head, just like he was in this one. He had no way of know that either and gave up the thought.

Leaning back, he rested against the black floor and gazed up at the equally black ceiling. He wished he felt tired enough to go to sleep. Roy sat back up with a realization. He had no idea as to how long he had been in this black hole, but it was long enough for him to know that he should be hungry, tired, and have an extreme urge to use the bathroom. But none of these bodily functions appeared. At the moment, he was no different than Alphonse in his suit of armor.

And that led him to another thought. Where was Alphonse?

Sound suddenly echoed into the darkness and Roy jumped in surprise. He quickly hopped to his feet and turned towards the dark wall. Finally, his other was waking up.

"Uhgg…." The noise repeated itself. The orbs remained closed, but beeps and clicks entered his ears. With a moment of concentration, Roy recognized theses clicks as medical sounds .

"Ahh good, he's waking up," An unfamiliar voice spoke in a clear strong voice. Roy knew the man spoke a different language, he could hear the odd accents and the foreign words. However the words registered clearly in his head, allowing him to understand what was being spoken. He suspected that he only understood it because he was in the Other's head.

"Wha….what happened?" Roy heard his familiar tone mumble the words. Slowly the orbs slipped open, slowly at first, showing the small lines of eyelashes. As they adjusted to the light, the eyes opened to their full capacity.

More alert than the man controlling the body, Roy took in every detail of the room. The floor was an off-white tile, which creased at the wall but continued to crawl halfway up the wooden structure. Where the tile stopped, it showed a thick wall that had the same ashen color. The cot he was laying in showed the same color, blending together with everything else in the room. On the wall closet to him, light streamed through the warped glass. The white walls reflected the light, giving the room seem to be an even brighter white.

The doctor stood by a brown wooden door, the only object that showed color in the pasty room. The doctor's coat matched the walls and floor. The coat was neatly buttoned up to the doctor's collar keeping the color of his under shirt a secret, but his pallid pants blended in with his coat making it hard to distinguish between the two. In his mind, Roy thought that if it wasn't for the doctor's dark, ebony hair, the man could stand by that wall for hours and Roy wouldn't know he was there.

Roy stole a quick glimpse outside from the window. From the partial view that he could see, the sky was a light purple mixing with bright pinks and rich crimsons. Small fluffy clouds dotted the sky, reflecting the soft warm colors of the setting sun.

"What happened?" The doctor asked, responding to the question. "You were shot! That's what happened." The Other's head turned from the doctor and looked up at the same off-white ceiling. Roy could here the doctor's footsteps ring against the walls.

"I was shot?" Roy heard the confusion in his outside voice. "I don't….remember that…" Roy could tell that his outside figure furrowed his eyebrows with confusion and worry; the orbs shrunk slightly. In the room outside, the doctor's footsteps stopped. A portion of a white gloved hand blocked half of Roy's view.

"You don't remember? Hmm… You don't have a fever. None of the drugs used in the surgery have side effects. You'll probably –"the doctor started to ramble his doctor-ly knowledge, but was interrupted by his patient.

"Surgery?" Roy noted the worry in his outside voice. "…That means I won't be able to work." The orbs quickly blurred upward and focused on the doctor that stood over him. The view rose slightly as the outside Roy struggled to obtain a sitting position. The doctor gently pushed back down.

"You were shot; of course you're not going to work, at least not here. The higher ups have secured a desk job for you while you are recovering." The doctor folded his arms over his chest and looked out the window. His skin soaked in the disappearing rays, his mouth creased downwards. "I'd say you're lucky. I think everyone needs to get away from this camp. Staying around too long will do things to you."

The outside Roy didn't say anything, but his view drifted down towards the bed. Roy stood in the empty abyss and wondered what they were talking about. The outside Roy's reaction to the comment was exactly how he reacts to things he wasn't proud of. Roy knew something was going on; in the back of his mind he was afraid that Edward was somehow involved.

"How long will I be out?" the Other asked after a moment, obviously trying to change the conversation. He didn't look up from his crisp, white bed sheets and comforter.

"For awhile. It depends on a lot of factors. But I'm guessing a couple months," The doctor replied. Roy looked up from the blankets and towards the pediatrician; he was looking down at Roy with a stern look that said: you're going to be out for a while, and you're going to like it. "Until then, I overheard that you'll be reassigned in Munich with the local law enforcement. You'll oversee the processes and what not."

"Is there any way to make it shorter?" Roy asked, annoyance seeping into his voice. He had no desire to be sitting behind a desk doing paper work all day.

"Of course. There are many options you can take. You can go out right now and use your shoulder as much as you want, as long as you want to deal with the pain and the broken stitches, and blood. But if you don't want to go that route, we can always cut off your arm. You'll be out for a couple of days with that but –"

"I get it!" Roy snapped at the doctor and turned to look up at the window. The light streaming in kept getting less and less, making the room grow darker and darker. "I just want to catch the little runt that did this to me." Malice rolled off of the words as the outside Roy quietly spoke them. Inside his head, Roy stepped forward, hoping to hear more about Ed.

The doctor didn't say anything, but stared down at Roy with a frown burrowing on his face. "What?" Roy asked, confused about the disappointing look.

The doctor looked away, "I'm sorry. My view on what happened is very different than yours." He crossed his arms in an unannounced protest.

"Your view on which part?" Roy asked curiously. Underlying underneath his question was more than curiosity but also wariness.

"Right now, the part where you killed his brother."

Without thinking, Roy stepped forward. Already his insides started to turn numb and he felt the blood rush down from his face and collect somewhere inside of his body. "What?" Roy asked more forcefully and louder than he wanted. He quickly sat up in his bed before the doctor could push him back down. Immeadiatly the world started to turn and he felt nauseas and his right shoulder burst into pain. He winced and clichéd at his arm.

He had stepped forward closer than he wanted to. Once more he took control of his other's body. Roy now looked out of two fully functioning eyes and out towards the doctor who now looked confused, worried and slightly disgusted.

"I'm a doctor, I save people, not destroy them," he replied, misunderstanding Roy's reaction. He glared down at Roy.

Roy immediately stepped backwards and found himself back in his surrounding darkness. He had no intention of taking over the body quite yet. For good measure, he stepped back a few more paces and continued to watch.

"What?" The outside Roy repeated in confusion. He looked up towards the doctor, "What are you talking about?" He looked down at his shoulder he still gripped, back towards his pillows and then back up to the doctor.

The doctor still glared down at Roy, and by how the orbs narrowed, he glared back as well. The doctor shook his head, and turned around and walked towards the door. "Forget about it. You've had a hard day, the medicine must be kicking in. Just lay down and rest." At the doorway, the doctor took one last look at the injured man and then turned off the lights and shut the door.

Roy was silent for a minute and then asked, "What's his problem?" Not waiting for an answer, he lay back down and rested against the stack of pillows. "So what if I killed the kid? I'm sure the Doc has had to put some down too. Doesn't need to get so uppity about it." He yawned and then started to close his eyes, once again, shutting out Roy's only light source.

Roy sat in the darkness, not moving. His eyes searched the endless abyss blankly, as he thought about the news that came from his own mouth. His stomach rolled as he thought sunk in. _Alphonse is dead…_ He remembered the hate in he saw in Edward's eyes, the malice in his voice, all directed at him. And now he knew the reason.

His body grew numb in the darkness.

-WUttOS-

The strewn covers embraced Riza as she lay curled in bed. Sunlight streamed into the room. Rays of warmth encouraged her to get out of bed; however Riza remained cold and unmoving.

Tears dripped down the sides of her cheeks, creating a widening damp circle on her pillow. Taking a deep breath, her breath caught and stuttered before her lungs filled. Black Hayate lay curled under her arm, nudging his master's cheek with his wet nose.

Two days have passed since the disappearance of her husband. To Riza, these days never ended. Normally, she would take any hardship in stride, but this was different. The man she loved and married was now gone from the world without a trace.

The city remained shocked and scared after the terrorist attack. Backup forces came in too late, but managed to round up the remaining rebels still fighting. However the most disturbing sight was seeing the leader, crippled on the floor, clutching his bleeding hand that had been severed off in a clean cut. After getting him cleaned up and calmed down the military immediately questioned him on everything. The first thing asked was if he had anything to do with the happening of Roy Mustang. The man's eyes grew wide. In a shaky voice, he answered that he saw the General disintegrate before his eyes.

Officials assured her that the terrorist lied. However, Riza knew that was a lie. Over the phone, Armstrong comforted her with one hope. He said that in alchemy, 'disintegration' does not always mean being put into insignificant pieces and never be put back together again. Instead, Armstrong said that with the basic principals of alchemy, one must first take something apart before it can be changed. Roy could have gone through that reaction and been placed somewhere else. Mentally, Riza thought that he could be placed somewhere but changed completely or disfigured when put back together. But she appreciated Armstrong's effort. And in truth, she clung desperately to the thought that Roy could still be alive.

A clatter of pots and pans woke Riza from her daze. Ms. Hughes and Elysia had stayed the night to help Riza, and she was grateful for it. The only person who could understand what she was going through would be Gracia. She would know how to keep going in a dreary world.

Sighing, Riza sat up in bed she smiled weakly at Black Hayate who wagged his tail encouragingly. Using the sleeve of her pajama shirt, she wiped away stray tears and dried her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she started to climb out of bed. She slowly made her way downstairs after dressing in suitable clothes. She struggled to stop the stuttering in her breathing, but by the time she made her way downstairs the stutter still remained.

Elysia looked up as she heard Riza enter the cozy kitchen. On the table in front of her lay a series of colored pencils and abstract child drawings. Upon seeing Riza, she smiled widely and rushed out of her chair and greeted Riza with a hug. Unable to resist the innocence of a child, a smile tickled Riza's lips.

She stood back up, wobbling slightly; its been close to nine months but she was still unused to the weight of a child in her belly. She looked up at Gracia who leaned against the counter holding a cup of steaming tea. Her friend smiled encouragingly.

"Good Morning," Gracia said and poured Riza a cup of her own tea. Riza smiled politely and took the cup. She sat at the table and dipped the tea bag in and out of the water, mindlessly. The clink of Gracia's cup signaled that she took a seat beside her.

Black Hayate sat loyally beside Riza and looked up at his master. He whined slightly. Riza looked down and gently placed a hand on his furry head. Her companion wagged his tail back and forth. With her other hand, Riza started to push off the table. Gracia put her hand on top of hers, a signal for Riza to stay where she was.

"Elysia, why don't you take Black Hayate outside and feed him. I'm sure he'd like to play while he's out there," Gracia suggested and looked over at her daughter. Her daughter excitedly agreed and climbed out of her chair. Standing on her tip toes, Elysia grabbed Hayate's food and moved to open the door. With a nod from Riza, the obedient dog followed out the door with Elysia in the lead.

"You should just rest for now. It won't be much longer now until the baby comes," Gracia said. Riza nodded and took a sip of her tea. Riza knew that what Gracia said was true, but also an excuse to get Elysia out of the room, in case either one of them wanted to talk about what happened. Riza looked out into the sunny day and watched as Black Hayate played tag with Elysia.

"There is a letter addressed to you from Winry," Gracia said and pushed an unopened letter towards her. Riza didn't even bother to look at it. She knew it would say one of two things. It would either say that she was deeply sorry about what happened and if she could do anything, let her know; or it would say that she would be coming up to help in any way possible. Either way it would just bring up the topic of being gone from this world. Either way, she would probably end up crying because of it.

The two ladies were silent; Gracia respectfully keeping quite for Riza, and Riza desperately trying to grab a hold of life as it was now. Eventually, Riza looked up from her mug of tea and looked up at Gracia.

"Gracia, I…" She paused unsure of what she really wanted to say, "I don't know what to do." Tears started to slide down her cheek once more, with no end in sight. Gracia moved over a seat and wrapped her arms around her friend in a comforting hug. Riza leaned into it, grateful for the support.

-WUttOS-

Edward slowly ate the vegetable soup in front of him. The glass of milk on the table remained untouched, but the bowl was about to be drained for the third time. Finishing up the last drop, he leaned back from the table and stretched. He placed the spoon down beside a long sharp knife.

He looked at his automail that held the iron spoon. The automail on his right arm remained rusted and chipped, but a good cleaning and oiling will give it some of its original vitality. His other arm on the other hand, was thinner compared to his metal arm. It still held the majority of strength that he had when he was younger, but the malnutrition of the Dauchu concentration camp left him weak. The thing that bothered him the most was the series of numbers tattooed up his forearm.

It had been three days since his escape from the camp. Already he was feeling better and livelier. But yet at the same time depressed, and slightly confused. The man who had helped him, hid him in a small wooden cabin in the middle of the forest. He had come up everyday and gave him a supply of food and drinks. But here he was, free from the horrors of the camp, enjoying an actual dinner, and his brother wasn't able to share it with him. His heart sank and he unconsciously touched his right arm. Once upon a time, he risked his life to save his brother's. Now there was no way for him to even try. But he had come to accept death long before his brother's passing. But the thought of Human Transmutation still lingered in his mind.

But what confused him, was the man that killed his brother: Roy Mustang. Ed remembered back to when Al and he first entered the camp. Mustang was one of the first people he saw; and what he saw didn't please him. He was one of the higher officers in charge, and oversaw most of the work in the camp. He was loud, vulgar, and cruel to the prisoners of the camp; nothing like the military officer of Amestris.

On the first day of their prison camp, they found out about Ed's arm and leg. Intrigued by the idea, they left him alive. Ed would've sworn that he would be one of the first to go, and he wondered why they left him alive. However he soon found out. They were going to run tests on him. They studied his arm and leg, trying to find out how exactly it worked. They didn't dare take it apart out of fear of not being able to put it back together before the tests were completed. The officers and medical officials compared him with the other workers, more specifically his brother, in order to see if work quality improved. Other test required him to sit as they tried wounding his automail with various instruments such as guns and knifes.

It wasn't fun, and Ed didn't enjoy doing it, but as long as it kept him alive he would keep doing it. But all the while, Mustang was there and he seemed to enjoy the tests and watching Ed squirm as he endured painful tests.

And so his hatred for this world's Mustang began to grow. It wasn't like his hatred for his commanding officer, back home in Amestris. It was a friendly hate. He hated being given orders and having to follow the commands Roy issued. And not only that, Roy seemed to use him in order to help him in his own situation. But he still held a high respect for the man, and the hate was nothing but a superficial frustration. But the hatred, he had for this world's Roy Mustang, went deeper than Ed could ever believe.

And then Roy killed his brother.

Ed's hand tightened on his spoon. Realizing this, he released his grip and saw the spoon had molded against the ridges of his metal hand. He stared down at his empty bowl. When he met Roy in the clearing, he was ready to kill him. He wanted to get revenge for what he did to Al.

_But then he sounded like the Colonel…_

Ed sat and pondered what happened. The malice was there in Roy's voice when he threw the stick. But then he sounded like the Roy he once knew. The voice was still the same, but it was how he said it.

_And what's more…He called me Fullmetal. No one has ever called me that here._

He thought back to when he first entered this world. Dante had sent him here. He woke up to find himself in a foreign room, and most surprisingly, with human limbs. But he was in someone else's body. As strange as that sounded, he knew it. The original host of that body spoke to him through his head. _What happened to him after that?_ Ed thought back. He didn't hear from him afterwards. _There was no way for me to kill his conscience. I must have blocked him out._ But then the zeppelin fell on him, and in a sense he really did kill his other self.

_But could that happen to the Colonel? Could he come here and take over another's body like I did? _He didn't know if someone else could do it. He was able to, but Hohenheim said he had to find his body through the Gate, and Al just came right on in.

Ed thought more on the subject. _The orginal Alphonse died. And there was a Hohenheim before Dad. But Paracelsus lived hundreds of years before this time. But was it because their other selves were dead that they could bring their original bodies from my world?_

He frowned down at his soup bowl. He had no way to prove any of his theories. He tapped his metal fingers against the splintered wooden table.

_Knock! Knock! Knock! _

Ed jumped in his chair. He looked over at the door as the person outside knocked again. Cautiously, Ed picked up the knife and went to the door, and slowly opened it. "You alright?" a familiar voice called as he caught a glimpse of Edward's face. Relieved, Ed opened the door in full and motioned to let the man inside.

As the man stepped inside, Ed watched the woods for any other movement. Satisfied he closed the door and greeted the man who saved him from the concentration camp. In his hand, the man held a package; it wasn't like the normal bulk of food that he normally brought. This time it seemed lighter and smooth.

"A new set of clothes," The man said as he saw the curiously look on Ed's face. "You can't stay here any longer. Someone will start catching on. But you look well enough to go through town without suspicious looks."

"All thanks to you," Edward said gratefully and took the package. He looked up at the man. When he first met him, the tall man had a mask hiding his facial features. Without it on, bushy blonde hair tumbled into his blue eyes. A small goatee covered his chin and small dimples appeared when he smiled. Ed had no idea what his name was. The man told Ed right off that he wanted to remain anonymous, he case something happened to happen. But he assured Ed that he had done this more than once, he doubted that he would get caught.

"Don't worry about it. I told you I was happy to help. Now hurry up and put these clothes on, and I'll take you to Munich." The man said as he started for the door.

"Munich?" Ed asked surprised.

"Yeah, is that a problem?" The man turned and asked, worried.

"No. I know people there. That'll probably be the safest spot for me," Ed reassured the man. He waited for the man to leave, and started to change. _I probably won't stay there for long. Someone will notice that I'm from a Concentration Camp. I don't want anyone to get in trouble because of that._ He thought specifically of the Hughes family. He might not even stay long enough to see them.

_**Author's Note:**_ Whew got it done! This one took me awhile… Sorry for the wait. Please tell me what you think! Everyone in character? Oh and good news!!! Actually the news could go either way. But they're making a new Fullmetal Alchemist anime! I'm excited because it's Fullmetal Alchemist, but I'm nervous because I'm afraid that the new series will ruin it. But still! New FMA!


End file.
